The Quartz Cathedral
by dr.oli
Summary: [Continuation of the author's previous story "Growing Pains"] Steven goes on his first solo mission to investigate an ancient Gem fortress. He meets new friends, uncovers old secrets, and tries to balance his need for independence with his duty and love for the Crystal Gems.
1. Chapter 1

"This must be it," Steven sighed in relief as he stepped out of the wooded thicket into the clearing before him. The sun had set over an hour ago, but he could make out the faint shape of the huge Gem structure in the thin moonlight. "The Quartz Cathedral."

Lion followed him forward a few steps, then flopped down onto the soft moss of the clearing. Steven turned and knelt down by his companion. "You did good today, buddy," he murmured, scratching the big cat's broad, pink flanks, "You deserve a good night's sleep." They had been traveling for the past two days, and Steven knew that Lion was pushing the limit of his stamina.

As he pulled his tent and supplies from Lion's pocket dimension, Steven considered the mission that brought him to this unfamiliar place. The Quartz Cathedral, as Pearl had explained to him at the Temple, was an ancient fortress used by the Crystal Gems during the rebellion against the Gem Homeworld over five thousand years ago. It had come under attack, so the Gems attempted to warp the Cathedral's Crystal Heart to a new location, which would move the entire structure out of harm's way. However, the Heart became unstable in the warp stream, and the Cathedral vanished.

The Crystal Gems had located the Cathedral again, but there was a strong warp irregularity that prevented them from accessing it with a warp pad. They sent Steven and Lion alone on a mission to clear the fortress of any corrupted Gems, and to account for any Gem-powered weapons and artifacts.

Sure there was the mission, thought Steven, but that wasn't the only reason he was here. He was eighteen years old, and he was starting to feel restless at the Temple. He loved Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and his dad of course, but part of him wanted to escape the shadow of his mother and the Crystal Gems.

Steven settled into his sleeping bag, too tired to give his conflicting feelings any more thought. There would be plenty of time for that in the morning, he thought drowsily as he drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Steven awoke suddenly to a scream outside his tent.

He stumbled outside, involuntarily summoning his shield, and searched for the source of the scream. Beside his tent, Lion was lounging casually, licking his forepaw with absolute disinterest in his surroundings. Several feet away, a teenage girl and boy stared wide-eyed at the huge pink cat.

"Oh," Steven breathed, lowering his arm and letting his shield disappear into a glittering pink cloud. "Hey there!" he called, addressing the terrified strangers, "Don't be scared, he's with me!" He slipped on his sandals and walked toward the strangers, who shifted their uneasy gaze from Lion to Steven.

"Who are you? And what _is_ that?" the girl asked, putting her arm protectively in front of her companion.

"That's just Lion," replied Steven, smiling.

"You… have a pink pet lion," the girl said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I don't know if 'pet' is the right word," said Steven thoughtfully, "he mostly does his own thing. But yeah, he's my animal friend." He reached out and patted Lion's back affectionately, eliciting an annoyed snort. "Anyway, my name is Steven. What are your names?"

"I'm Augustin!" piped the boy, an excited smile spreading across his cheeks. "And this is my sister Jeanne. Can I pet him?"

"Sure!" Steven grinned. "He won't bite or anything, but he might try to sit on you, so be careful."

"Augustin, you can't just go around touching strange animals!" Jeanne admonished, but he had already pushed past her arm and was moving toward Lion. He moved on one leg and a pair of crutches, which he skillfully tucked under his arm as he squatted beside the bored pink beast.

Steven took a moment to look over his new acquaintances. Augustin was definitely the younger of the two, with a small, wiry frame. His skin was a deep golden brown and his close-cropped hair was coarse and wavy. Jeanne seemed to be the opposite of her brother, with broad shoulders and thick legs, wearing her thick, blonde curls in a frizzy ponytail. Their faces, however, showed much more of a family resemblance: the very same tall foreheads, wide mouths, flat noses, and deep-set eyes.

He noticed that Jeanne was eying him up as well. She looked to her brother, who was delightedly braiding Lion's mane, then met eyes with Steven. "Okay," she said at last, "So this is really weird, what with the giant pink lion and the arm thing…"

"My shield!" Steven smiled, summoning it once more.

Jeanne raised her eyebrows. "Yes, that. And with you showing up out of nowhere at the weirdest place in town," she added, gesturing toward the Cathedral, which was now fully illuminated in the morning sun, "I think we can all agree that you are weird. Strange. Otherworldly. And that's fine, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but like, can I just know what kind of weird I'm dealing with? I mean, are we talking magic, or aliens, or what?"

Steven thought for a minute. "Um… both?" he smiled nervously.

"Oh boy," Jeanne closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She put her hands together, then opened her eyes, shook her head and laughed. "Steven? It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm gonna need you to tell me your whole life story. This is unreal."

"Oh, ah, okay!" Steven raised his eyebrows. "Where do I even start?"


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearly noon by the time Steven finished telling his new friends about himself, the Gems, and his mission. Jeanne and Steven were sitting cross-legged on the soft moss of the clearing, while Augustin leaned against an unusually tolerant Lion.

"That's kind of a lot to take in. You got any snacks with you?" asked Jeanne. Steven nodded, reached into his tent, and pulled out three granola bars. Jeanne politely took one, unwrapped it, and chewed thoughtfully. "So tell me if I'm missing anything," she said around a mouthful of oats and nuts. "You're a magical space rock-"

"Half magical space rock," Steven corrected, "on my mom's side."

"Right," Jeanne grinned, raising an eyebrow. "And your mom fought a war against her home planet some five thousand years ago, and this," she waved her half-eaten snack toward the Cathedral, "was her base. Which got magicked away somehow and landed here." Jeanne looked to Steven, who nodded in confirmation.

"And I'm here," Steven continued, "to find any Gem weapons and artifacts that are still inside. I need to bring them home to the Crystal Gems and make sure they don't hurt anyone."

Jeanne laughed dryly. "You're a little late for that," she muttered, eyes darting to her brother's leg.

"Oh please, Jeanne," Augustin sighed, "that was nobody's fault but mine." He turned to Steven, "That's just Jeanne being Jeanne," he laughed. He patted his right thigh where it ended in a wide, yellowish scar, "but yeah, I lost my leg like 5 years ago playing around this thing. Me 'n Jeanne used to hang out around here all the time when we were younger, we pretended it was our fort." He looked up at the great structure. "We had no idea it used to be an _actual_ fort."

Steven followed Augustin's gaze up the Quartz Cathedral and studied its shape. The main spire was formed from a single piece of some cloudy grey mineral with several long facets around the sides. The heart of the structure was a pyramid-shaped block of dark stone that seemed to grow out of the forest floor. A low wall made of the same dark grey stone surrounded the Cathedral, with a wide opening leading to the front door. The door reminded Steven of the Temple door, and was made of a glassy sheet of reddish stone. Steven instinctively touched the gem in his stomach, hoping it would allow him safe entry into the imposing edifice before him.

He turned to face Augustin, eyes full of concern. "What happened?"

Augustin laughed nervously, taken slightly aback by Steven's earnest distress. "Like I said, it was mostly my fault. Our mom always told us not to climb on the rock in the middle, said we would fall and break our necks. Of course, I was a little hellion," he smiled, "and I never listened. I thought that big red section looked like a door, so I was tryin' to push it open, crawlin' up and down the sides of it, when outta nowhere the sides of the doorway closed in on me. Luckily, I fell backwards, but it crushed my right leg." Augustin was smiling nonchalantly, but Steven noticed Jeanne flinch out of the corner of his eye. "And I know what you're gonna say," Augustin said sharply. "You're gonna be all like, 'I'm so sorry, I bet it sucks so much,' whatever." He frowned, "It's not your fault and I'm okay now, so don't start."

"I'm…" Steven weighed his words for a moment. "I'm glad you're better now," he smiled nervously. "You're really handy on your crutches, and that's pretty cool."

Augustin blushed sheepishly. "Thanks, Steven. You're a really cool guy." Steven beamed at the compliment.

"Aw sh-" Jeanne hissed sharply, checking her phone. "Well I hate to break up this lovefest, but we need to get back to school before lunch period starts." She leapt to her feet and brushed the dirt and leaf litter off her jeans. "We were skipping second and third period," she explained, "but he needs to go to fourth or else he's gonna fail geometry." Augustin groaned. Jeanne stuck her tongue out at him, and then turned back to Steven, "And _I_ need to get to lunch or I'll starve to death during English lit."

Steven stood and extended his hand toward Augustin. The boy looked up at him for a moment then, cradling his crutches in one arm, accepted the offered hand. Steven pulled him upright, and Augustin locked eyes with him for a long moment. "Uh, thanks!" Augustin stammered, swiftly retracting his hand and blushing deeply. He turned his eyes downward, "Will… will we see you again?"

"Sure!" laughed Steven, "I'll be here at least for a few days, maybe even a couple of weeks. You guys can come by whenever. Actually," he furrowed his brow, shoved his hand into the pocket of his jeans, and fished out his phone, "we should trade numbers. I don't want you to be around while I'm doing Gem mission stuff. It could get dangerous."

"You will definitely be hearing from us," Jeanne grinned as she entered the digits into her phone. "Our town is super boring, so Magical Space Destiny Boy kind of beats anything else we have going for us." Augustin giggled as they turned to leave. "See you soon, Magic Boy!" she called over her shoulder, following her brother out of the clearing into the woods.


End file.
